TANZANIA'S EASTERN ARC

Birdquest's Tanzania's Eastern Arc birding tour explores 'The Other Tanzania', far from the well-known safari route from Kilimanjaro to Serengeti, but the area where the greatest concentration of Tanzania's endemic and other speciality birds occur.

Tour Category: Easy walking for the most part and comfortable accommodations

Scheffler's Owlet in Mikumi National Park. This individual has a barred rather than plain back – a variable feature in this species! (Nik Borrow)

Tanzania, with its wealth of large mammals and remarkably rich avifauna, has long been regarded as a classic destination for both the birder and the wildlife enthusiast. In fact almost 25% of the country is either a national park or a game or forest reserve.

However, there is another side to Tanzania that is often overlooked by those whose images of the country have been formed by the stream of marvellous wildlife films featuring the wonders of the northern parks. For this exciting country is, depending on the taxonomy followed, home to up to 35 or more endemic bird species and also a significant number of near-endemics, many of which are rare or endangered. New discoveries continue to be made, with no less than eight endemic species having been found here since 1981, although two of these are still waiting to be officially described!

The aim of this special tour is to find the great majority of Tanzania’s eastern specialities. During this adventure we will visit some superb areas that are very much off-the-beaten-track, including the ‘Eastern Arc Mountains’ from the Usambara Mountains to the Ukaguru and Uluguru Mountains, Mikumi National Park, the Kilombero floodplain and the small island of Pemba. On this special itinerary we will certainly be treading where few other birders have ventured before and our efforts will undoubtedly be rewarded with views of some of Tanzania’s best kept secrets.

The tour begins at Dar-es-Salaam on the Indian Ocean coast, our jumping off point for a flight to the tiny island of Pemba, famous for its cloves and spices and home to four endemics: Pemba Green Pigeon, Pemba Scops Owl, Pemba White-eye and Pemba Sunbird, as well as such interesting birds as Crab-plover (a monotypic bird family), Sooty Gull and the restricted-range and much sought after White-cheeked Tern.

Our next stop will be the West Usambara Mountains with their old German colonial influences. Here we shall search out Red-capped Forest Warbler, Usambara Akalat, Usambara Double-collared Sunbird and hopefully Usambara Weaver.

Only a four-kilometre wide valley separates this chain from the slightly lower East Usambaras, home to the famous Amani Nature Reserve. In the remnant forest patches situated amongst the extensive tea estates that cloak the mountain tops we shall be hunting out some very special birds. These include Kretschmer’s Longbill, Uluguru Violet-backed Sunbird, the rare and extremely localized Long-billed Apalis, Usambara Hyliota and Banded Green Sunbird. A wonderful supporting cast of birds includes rarities such as Southern Banded Snake Eagle, Fischer’s Turaco and Sharpe’s Akalat.

After leaving the Usambaras behind and heading south, we shall arrive at the Uluguru Mountains. Here we will be concentrating on finding such specialities of this mountain island as Uluguru Greenbul, the rare Uluguru Bush Shrike, the beautiful Loveridge’s Sunbird and the skulking but extremely shrill-voiced Winifred’s (or Mrs Moreau’s) Warbler.

Further west lie the little-visited Ukaguru Mountains, where we will be wanting to see the endemic Rubeho Akalat and Rubeho Warbler. We will also have a first chance for Moreau’s Sunbird.

In complete contrast to these cool mountain tops with their lush vegetation are the flat and humid Kilombero floodplains where we will search for three recent discoveries; White-tailed and Kilombero Cisticolas, and Kilombero Weaver.

Mikumi National Park will be our final destination before we end the tour at Dar-es-Salaam, and offers a chance to unwind in a comfortable safari lodge after some montane hiking and forest birding . Mammals will be on show in Mikumi with its southern ‘miombo’ habitat, but our main focus will be on birds such as Dickinson’s Kestrel, Racket-tailed Roller, Pale-billed Hornbill, Cinnamon-breasted Tit and Shelley’s Sunbird.

Birdquest has operated tours to Tanzania since 1983.

Accommodation & Road Transport: The hotels/lodges are almost all of good or very good standard. At Amani the accommodation is fairly simple but clean and comfortable. Road Transport is by Landrover or Toyota 4x4s with opening roof hatches. Road conditions are variable.

Walking: The walking effort is easy for most of the tour, occasionally moderate.

Climate: Most days will be warm or hot, dry and sunny, but overcast conditions are fairly frequent and there is likely to be some rain. At higher altitudes temperatures are cool to warm.

Bird/Mammal Photography: Opportunities are quite good.

Eastern Tanzania Tour Prices: Prices in Tanzania, in common with many of the ‘safari’ countries of eastern and southern Africa, are high by the general standard of tour costs in ‘less developed’ countries. There are two main reasons for this. In the first place ‘safari travel’ appeals to a very well-heeled audience from across the globe, not just to birders and wildlife enthusiasts, and this demand, in a part of the world (Eastern Tanzania) where there is often little choice of where to stay, pushes up prices to high levels . Secondly, the high quality way to go ‘on safari’ is to use specially modified 4x4 vehicles, typically Landrovers or Toyota Landcruisers. Import taxes and running costs for these vehicles in Tanzania are very high, and the vehicles take only a small number of people in each, so costs per person are correspondingly steep. The cheaper alternative, still used by some bird and wildlife tour operators, is to put folk into a small minibus (passenger van) that will have less space, a less comfortable ride on bumpy dirt roads and which usually has no 4x4 capability and so can struggle to pass muddy or rutted sections of road (conditions regularly present in Tanzania). If you see a Tanzania tour description and it does not specify 4x4 Landrovers or Landcruisers, check with the tour operator in case they are going to have their clients travel in minibuses.

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